poring over liner notes, admiring cover art, studying lyrics and playing albums over and over again in my room was a beloved activity for me as a child and a teenager. it continues to be an intensely personal and highly satisfying activity. it’s a place to escape, a place to relax; an inspiring, creative, dynamic place that can unlock favorite memories, and be interpreted in myriad ways. this is why i love the work that daniel edlen creates, using white acrylic paint on vinyl. there is soul in these earnest portraits that honor the musicians we all know and love, and i think the technical skill here is as sharp as a needle on a turntable. let’s have a chat with daniel and find out more!

q: where do you live, and where do you create your art?
a: i live in gilbert, az and i create my art in one of our house’s bedrooms.

q: what is your background, and did you study art formally?
a: i wouldn’t call it formally, but i did take art classes at a private art school from the time i was six to the time i was 27. my background, if you mean academic, was regular old school and then computer science at ucla.

q: how did you ultimately come to work with vinyl and how do you choose your subjects?
a: it wasn’t really ultimately. i came up with the idea as a teenager following my acquiring a mess of records and doing a high school art project i made up involving white pencil on black paper. then a couple years ago, friends said i should try selling them and people wanted them for christmas, so i started doing commissions. i paint whomever people commission me to do, and ones i like and think might be popular, and ones for whom i find records that i know would be popular.

q: what is the price range of your collection?
a: they sell for $175 plus shipping, framed. unframed, they’re $100 plus shipping. i add $10 for each additional portrait beyond just one and i’ve done up to 4 (pink floyd, kiss).

q: do you think your love of music is stronger than your love of art, or vice versa?
a: honestly, i don’t really distinguish between them that way. it’s more my passion for creativity that drives me.

q: do you have a favorite piece that you’ve made?
a: the marley that i did the video of (below) was for roger steffens that i wrote about in my blog. that would probably be my favorite piece because of the experience of connecting with such a wonderful and passionate person.

q: who would win in a fight — led zeppelin or u2?
a: bonzo’s dead, and he’d be the only one i ever could see fighting, so i think they’d reach peace before even starting.

q: where can we go to see your collection in person? are you currently exhibiting in any shows, and is there anything else meaningful you would like to include here?
a: i’ve got pieces for sale on consignment at rockzone records in chandler, az, red dog gallery in phoenix, az, raw style in brentwood, ca, primitive kool in san diego, ca, and wild about music in austin, tx.

i just had a piece in the 12 inch art show in winnipeg, and I’ll be in that one again when it comes around next year. i’m also in the part art show at the agni gallery in new york now through april 15th, 2008.

i’ve really put a lot of myself into my blog since i started it, so i hope people will take the time to read it from the beginning. i have a link to that first post in the “who, me?” section. all that i would consider meaningful is there.

daniel is currently accepting commission work. check him out on flickr, see his website for more and make sure to stop by his blog to say hi!